Pete Shelley, alongside Howard Devoto, was a founding member of the influential punk band Buzzcocks.In the 80's he pursued a musical career in the new wave/synthpop genre, from wich I've chosen to post "Homosapien" and "XL 1", being "XL 1" my favourite Pete Shelley album.Enjoy!

Misty Roses is an american duo formed by Jonny Perl and Robert Conroy."Komodo Dragons" is their only album release to date and it has really beautiful songs, especially on the second half of the record, such as "Gertrude" or "Skyline" wich make me think in some sort of fusion between Suede and Burt Bacharach.

We love sounds that are dark, cinematic and captivating, both bewitching and menacing. There is often a hint of danger in even the most sweet and beautiful song. (From the band's Myspace)

The Glove - Blue Sunshine (1983)The Glove was formed in 1983 by Robert Smith (The Cure) and Steve Severin (Siouxsie & the Banshees) with the collaboration of Jeanette Landray on the vocals.This was their only album release.Enjoy!

Here's one more classic album from the 80's.Dali's Car was a musical project formed by Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Mick Karn (Japan) and Paul Vincent Lawford. "The Waking Hour" was their only album to be released.Enjoy!

Friday, 5 June 2009

Lucretia Divina was a portuguese group formed in Viseu in the early 90's.I took acquaintance with them in the summer of 1990 (if I'm not mistaken) when they participated in a musical contest called "Aqui D'el Rock", wich was brodcasted by the portuguese television, and their performance was really something.Their only album was released three years later and it included the two themes they've played in that contest,"Saudade" and "Maria", from wich I would like to highlight "Saudade" (track nº 4), a deeply powerful song with excellent lyrics.Hope you like it!

It would be redundant to express the deep admiration I feel for Klaus Schulze and his hypnotic electronic music that just goes on and on and on...But I will do it just the same with three more records from his vast discography.Enjoy!

Wednesday, 3 June 2009

Solvent is a very interesting electronic project founded by the canadian (Zimbabwe born) producer/musician Jason Amm.I think there are obvious influences of such 70/80's artists as Kraftwerk, Visage, Rational Youth or Soft Cell but Jason Amm manages to combine them with more recent ones, creating an amazing kind of electro-dance-pop sound.Tracks like "Think Like Us", "Wish", "My Radio" or "Interlude" are really great.Enjoy!

P.S. - Solvent appeared in the Morr Music compilation "Blue Skied an' Clear" wich I've posted a few months ago.

Don Shtone - Serious Fool Music (2000)I loved when this record came out back in 2000!
But it's a shame that, although with some minimal-techno projects like Greenman, Sven Dohse (his real name) couldn't keep up the level of "Serious Fool Music" and its 2007 second album as Don Shtone, "Beware of the Cat", was a real disappointment to me.

Here's a real good album by the canadian musician Ron Sexsmith.It might recall the sound of Elliott Smith, Nick Drake or Elvis Costello.I remember reading one review which said that Sexsmith's music was "perfect for a lonesome languid sunday afternoon".Well, it worked for me.

Monday, 1 June 2009

"In the Dark" is the only album to date by this californian band which was founded by father and son Gary and Geof Brandin.
I would like to highlight the amazing original song "Charlotte" and the cover version of Wayne Shanklin's "The Big Hurt".

"In The Dark" combines the essence of surf-noir and spaghetti-western with a twist of exotic schmaltz. Brace yourself, this is a darker beach party where the Mai-Tai's are spiked with Vicadin and no ones really sure who's good, bad or ugly. The Vanduras go for the jugular and create an instrumental album that is anything but uneasy listening. (From the band's Myspace)

This 2 CD compilation is a very interesting collection of soundtracks from movies and TV series including such cult classics as "Department S", "The Persuaders", "Space 1999", "Dirty Harry" or "Danger Man", among others.Hope you like it!

This 1969 Decca release joined the brilliant soundtrack composer Bernard Herrmann conducting the London Philharmonic for an interpretation of some of his most well known works for Alfred Hitchcock movies such as "Vertigo", "Psycho" or "Marnie".

It was originally Decca that put Herrmann together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to conduct performances of excerpts from his most famous scores. The result was as masterful as can be expected. The composer chose to highlight the most famous themes from various scores to Alfred Hitchcock films, and the performances are indeed quite different than what was done for the actual soundtrack recordings.(...) the films in question are well-served by these short suites, put together carefully and artistically by the only person who really has the right to tinker around like this, the composer himself. (Taken from AMG)